Try one of these impressive lamb recipes for grilled leg of lamb, lamb chops, and lean ground lamb.

Photo: Thomas J. Story; Styling: Dan Becker

Grilled Apricot-stuffed Leg of Lamb

The dried apricots swell and soften with the Moroccan-spiced juices of the roasting lamb.Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice mix available at upscale grocery stores or Middle Eastern markets. You can make your own blend with ground cardamom, coriander, ginger, turmeric, freshly ground black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, saffron, allspice, cloves, and mace.

Curry- and Ginger-Rubbed Lamb Chops with Apricot-Lime Sauce

Several of our online reviewers said that the tangy sweet sauce was so good that they wanted to lick the plates. The Indian-inspired curry-ginger rub and the apricot sauce are versatile enough to be used on pork chops as well as lamb.

Indian-Spiced Lamb Kebabs

The key to good kebabs is using very lean but tender meat; the top round is ideal (ask your butcher to cut it for you). A simple raita--—a sauce of yogurt with chopped cucumber and mint--goes well with this, as does naan flatbread warmed on the grill.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Cherry Port Sauce

We used port, a sweet fortified wine, to create a vibrant sauce for the lamb. The unique flavor of port is hard to match, but if you need a substitute, use a fruity red wine or 2/3 cup pomegranate-cherry juice and 1/2 teaspoon sugar.

Lamb Burgers with Fennel Salad

Take a break from beef burgers and make patties with ground lamb and turkey breast, Greek seasoning, feta cheese and olives. Serve in pita rounds instead of buns, and top with a Mediterranean salad of fennel and mint combined with yogurt, sour cream, and a bit of honey.

Spicy Kofte

This ground lamb mixture grilled on skewers is a specialty of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Combine the lamb with onions, herbs, and bread and blend in a food processor. The bread serves as a binder so that you can shape the mixture into logs and place on the skewers.

Give up the box mix because making Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese from scratch is easier than you think. Shredding a block of cheese adds a little more prep time but the smooth and creamy results are worth it. For more tasty mac and cheese recipes, see our complete Macaroni and Cheese recipe collection.)